Remember that scintillating run when Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs tore through the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat to win the 2011 NBA title? J. B. Bickerstaff sure remembers.
And what the Cleveland Cavaliers coach remembers most is how dominant of a player Nowitzki was during those four historic playoff series.
“I remember sitting at home and watching those games at just how unstoppable he was,” Bickerstaff said. “There was no defensive answer for him, and he helped will his team to a championship.
“I just remember him being on that logo isolating over there, and there wasn’t time to get a double-team over to him.”
In Bickerstaff’s mind, Nowitzki’s fadeaway jumper was as iconic and as unstoppable as any other signature shot.
“I think it was really, when you watched and saw that fadeaway and the release point of his fadeaway, you realized just how unstoppable that move is,” said Bickerstaff, who is now the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. “At that time that move was on the level with the sky hook (of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Michael Jordan’s fadeaway.
“It basically came whether or not those guys missed that shot, because there was no defense that was going to stop it. So that’s the thing that I remember most about Dirk is that drive during that time to carry his team to a championship.”
KIDD WANTS HARDAWAY TO KEEP SHOOTING: In the two games against the Phoenix Suns two weeks ago, Hardaway was 9-of-23 and 7-of-21 from the field. He followed that up by going 2-of-12 and 5-of-17 from the floor in the two games against the Los Angeles Clippers.
And that was followed by Saturday’s 4-of-12 showing against the Washington Wizards, and Monday’s 3-of-10 shooting against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd knows somehow, some way they have to get Hardaway going if they plan on winning their fair share of games and make a deep playoff run this season
“I think just keep taking the same shots,” Kidd said. “Those are open shots. There’s going to be points in the season when things go in and out that you just have to keep the faith.
“He’s worked extremely hard. He wouldn’t have made it this far in his career.”
Hardaway entered Monday’s game against the Cavaliers shooting 38.3 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
“He hasn’t made every shot in his career,” Kidd said before Monday’s game. “It’s just sometimes you’ve got to draw from past experience of going through tough time and how did you get through it.
“For coaches and teammates, we’re positive.”
DONCIC IS A TOUGH MATCHUP: So what’s a coach to do when he looks at the schedule and he knows he has to diagram a defense to slow down Luka Doncic?
“You can’t take away everything from great players, so you have to figure out what is that thing that you think you can take away,” Cleveland coach J. B. Bickerstaff said. “And the conversation among coaches is, do you make him a facilitator or do you make him a scorer?
“If he does both, they’re going to win. And we understand that. We put our plan in place to try to eliminate one of those.”
Since Doncic wound up with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists — his second triple-double of the season — the Cavs didn’t exactly neutralize him. Then again, hardly no team has been able to slow down the fourth-year point guard.
MOSES IN THE STARTING LINEUP: Fans have been clamoring for Moses Brown to get some more court time, and Monday night he started at center in place of Willie Cauley-Stein, who was out with a non-Covid-19 related illness.
Acquired in a trade with the Boston Celtics over the summer for Josh Richardson, Brown played 11 minutes, scored two points, grabbed two rebounds, picked up a steal and was 1-of-2 from the field in 11 minutes. He also had the best plus/minus – a plus two – of any of the Mavs’ starters.
“He did great,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He was a plus two. This is a positive world, so we’ll take the positive. He was a plus two.
“(Cavs center Jarrett) Allen looked like an All-Star, so (Brown will) learn. He’ll get better.”
BRIEFLY: In addition to the Mavs missing Willie Cauley-Stein, guard Frank Ntilikina missed his second straight game with a strained right calf. Also forward Kristaps Porzingis hobbled off the floor at the end of the third quarter and did not return. He finished the night with nine points and five rebounds and was 4-of-12 from the field, including 0-of-4 from three-point land. “He twisted his ankle,” coach Jason Kidd said. “The film was negative. I think he stepped on Maxi (Kleber’s) foot, so we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”. .One of the loudest roars of the night from the fans came when center Boban Marjanovic drained a three-pointer with 28.3 seconds remaining in the game. . .The Cavs out-rebounded the Mavs by 16 (49-33). Although the Mavs turned 20 Cleveland turnovers into 24 points, the Cavs’ solid shooting and the Mavs’ poor shooting was the decisive difference. Cleveland shot 56.2 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from three-point range, while the Mavs only made 43.8 percent of their field goals and 30.8 percent of their three-point shots. The Cavs also outscored the Mavs in the paint, 60-46. . .Of the loss that dropped the Mavs to 10-9, coach Jason Kidd said: “I said earlier, it’s hard to win in this league. No one is going to feel sorry if you are in a slump offensively or defensively. It tends to test your character, it test you mentally and physically to point the finger at someone else. It’s just us, so we have to talk about it, we have to be honest with one another, then we have to go to work.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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